


Bandages

by AceHaven



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Bros. (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt, I Tried, Major Character Injury, OTP Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 18:31:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7185296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceHaven/pseuds/AceHaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected attack leaves the Mario Brothers and Princess Peach wondering what to do next, or if they can do anything at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bandages

**Author's Note:**

> Let's call this an attempt. At what? I dunno.   
> *chants* OTP! OTP! OTP!
> 
> Mario might be OOC due to me not knowing where I wanted to take this one-shot in the first place.  
> Hooray for one-shots! (Because that is literally all I can write!)
> 
> Possible unnerving themes ahead (no real gore but mentions of bones moving around and general unpleasantness).

It is quite often the first day of any new change that is the hardest. Sometimes the first week, or the first month. To get accustomed to change in any way is difficult for many, but no amount of time left to recuperate would ever allow Mario to get accustomed to the realization that Princess Peach was sleeping in his bed. However, not exactly the way he would expect.

And, indeed, the first day was difficult. She never woke up from her peaceful slumber, nor did she move from her rather scrambled position on her side. Mario paced around the room the entire time. As far as the reaches of his mind would allow he could not remember a time when he was as nervous as now. He became obsessed over fickle things such as the position of the cup of water on the nightstand or whether the curtains should remain quite that open or quite that closed.

The next day was less tense and stressed the minute life wiggled itself back into Peach’s body. Mario kept every immediate vocal reaction trapped together in a lump in his throat. He leaped to her side trying his best not to shake her awake. Her eyes opened and adjusted to the rather little amount of light in the room, as well as the figure of Mario standing right in front of her. Upon the realization of him standing there, she grabbed the sheets and shot up from her position in bed. Then she realized that the sheets were not hers. After looking around the room she too realized that this room was not hers. Quickly after followed the final realization that she was in Mario’s house for a reason she could not conjure at the moment.

“Why am I here?”

The first words she uttered in two days since bringing her unconscious self here and he the response he prepared was for a question along the lines of ‘What’s going on?’

He opened his mouth and made a small noise. He breathed and tried again.

“You’re hurt.” Then he exhaled again. “You were trapped in the castle and the only safe place was here.”

As he said that Princess Peach felt a pang in her side and her stomach churn. She grabbed her head. “The clinic, Mario . . .  What about the clinic?”

Mario scratched his neck. He turned to look for a chair and ended up grabbing a stool. He sat, pondering what to say to keep her calm. All the while the Princess noticed that she was still in her usual dress. There were some wide tears around her waist. Stitches came undone as she moved to see check legs under the covers. It seemed like he never bothered to undress her to check for scars, or didn’t dare. Her leggings torn in several places around her thigh and even more on her leg, but there was no blood.

“It wasn’t available,” he spoke. She turned back to him. “The clinic is in the center of town, and the castle was coming down. Luigi suggested it.” He shrugged and pointed up. “The airships were still flying around overhead, and they would see us if we ran there.”

Princess Peach stared at the floor. Her mind sprained itself trying to remember what she could not. She perked up. “The castle came down?” Her eyes widened as she repeated herself in a shrill voice. She started crawling to the edge of the bed to check the window. Mario slipped off the stool and grabbed her before she could jump off. He had no way of telling if his treatment worked and everything healed itself – if she moved too much or too fast she could undo everything.

In the moment they both tumbled to the floor next to the bed. He held her against his chest as she started screaming in pain. The fierce mix of emotions led to tears. She grabbed his shirt and made a tight fist. Mario consoled her as best he could before starting to stand and force her to her feet. She continued to cry in a painful rage but lifted herself up.

Once she plopped back on the bed she grabbed her stomach. Mario ran across the room to grab a bottle of medication. He jumped on the bed and brought it to her mouth. Peach could struggled to sit still.

He groaned. “I’m sorry for this.”

He grabbed her chin and slammed her head against the wall, letting her face up while her cheeks squished together hard enough to open her mouth. The medicine trickled down the sides of her chin due to her violent shaking, but Mario judged that enough went in. He put the bottle to the side. Peach calmed down despite her hyper breathing. He grabbed her stomach and placed his hand on the open tear in her dress. With a quick move of his thumb against her ribs something fit back into place. She gasped, under the medication feeling nothing. Her bones slipped back into place inside her. She placed her hand on her ribs and breathed.

“Some debris fell on you,” Mario said. “When I found you, you were technically dead.” He pointed at her ribs. “It hit your lung. Usually 1UP’s have no problem bringing people back to life, within a certain amount of time, but you barely use them. Too much could only kill you again, and too little would do nothing.” He grabbed his head. “Three days should heal you completely, again.” He glared a bit. “Don’t move, alright?”

Princess Peach nodded.

Mario sighed. “What else do you want to know?”

“The castle.”

“Fell. More exactly, on top of you.”

“Everyone in it?”

“I can’t be sure. The pipe leading back there is broken, and it’s risky to go back, but Luigi has been traveling to the clinic to get medicine for you. He says he doesn’t know.”

“And Toadsworth? Where is he?”

Here Mario paused. “ . . .  I don’t know, Princess.”

She ran her fingers through her hair. “What about the Toads in town? Did the airships get them too?”

“The airships hit a lot, but I saw some groups of Toads run towards the woods. Luigi says that he can’t find anyone in town. Most of the houses and stores came down.”

Peach looked down in thought. She pursed her lips before asking her final question. “Why did Bowser attack?”

“I know the answer to that question as well as you do, Princess.”

* * *

 

That night Princess Peach’s mind would only allow her to sleep for three hours consecutively before waking her on and off with scenarios that could or could not have happened. She discovered in her wake that reanimation left her with the memory of everything that took place nearly a day before the event Mario described to her. No memory of a possible attack came to mind, nor did any alerts from the royal guard. The airships overhead. The castle crumbling. Her own death . . . Nothing to lead her to this moment. She sat up as careful as possible, restless for the rest of the night until dawn or so when her mind let her rest a little while longer.

She woke up next to the sound of the door opening and Mario placing a tray of food on the foot of the bed. She rose, still fumbling in the puffy pink dress of hers.

“Good morning,” he said in a perky way. Peach wondered how long he had been up to sound that awake.

She smiled and bid him a good morning too, still half asleep. She looked at the tray holding a plate of eggs and toast. The cup of tea fumed and smelled heavenly. Peach moved the tray closer to her. Before grabbing the fork she looked at Mario. “Have you eaten yet?”

He shook his head. “I wanted to wait for you to wake up first.” He turned a bit. “I’ll go eat now unless you want something else.”

“A change of clothes would be nice,” she chuckled. She looked around the room for a minute.

Mario hesitated. “I don’t have much for you, Princess.” He walked over to his closet knowing nothing would be there. “Maybe a sweater?” He turned back.

“I would like to stand, Mario.”

His eyes widened and he made his way around the bed to her. He checked for the medicine bottle before putting out his hands. “Be careful.”

Peach took his hands and placed her feet on the floor. He gripped her hands tighter as she pulled herself up. She felt her chest shift a bit into place under the movement but there was no pain. She smiled and let go of him. “There we go.” She straightened out her dress a bit. “I’d like to have breakfast with you and Luigi, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Mario laughed. “Not at all!” Princess Peach took the cup of tea before he left with the tray, sipping it on the way to the kitchen.

* * *

 

The white silk under dress of the Princess’ dress was enough of a different outfit for her. She ripped some fabric from her pink dress and stitched it onto the holes of her new gown. It lied on the bed as she freshened up in the bathroom. As the water rained over her she considered what to do today. It was the third day now, as Mario had advised she set aside those three days to recuperate, and she felt strong enough to take the walk back to the capital. Her curiosity itched to see the true wreckage, to find anyone, and to retrieve what she could from the remains of the castle.

She stepped out of the bathroom and back into Mario’s room, closing the door behind her. The dress slipped onto her well, and the patches although makeshift, worked well enough for what they were. She wrapped the towel around her wet hair now, searching around his dresser for a comb. There was not much to discover than a few picture frames and some letters. She shuffled through them before finding a letter addressed to her from Mario. She pulled it out from the mess of letters on the dresser before putting it back.

Snooping around like this felt wrong. Mario gave her his room to heal in, not to snoop around.

_Princess,_

_In case the treatment_

He was sleeping on the couch instead of his own bed! And this is how you repay him?

_is a failure, and we are unsuccessful in bringing you back to life, hopefully my words will find you somewhere else._

Princess Peach snatched the letter from the dresser and started reading.

_Princess,_

_In the case the treatment is a failure, and we are unsuccessful in bringing you back to life, hopefully my words will find you somewhere else._

_Bowser and his airships attacked this morning, unexpected. They fired cannons at the town and the castle, sending it to the ground and killing many. Everyone hurt today was innocent, especially you. Not much of the castle was evacuated and had Luigi and I known this was going to happen we would have made sure at least everyone inside was able to escape._

_Whether or not I have you here, we will fight back. Whoever remains strong enough will be rounded up and we will fight fire with fire if we have to, in your name and the rest of those lost._

_For you, my princess,_

_Mario_

Princess Peach found herself hunched over the letter in bed, with her hand covering her mouth in reaction to the last few words. The door opened and Mario peaked in, asking if she was alright. She pressed the letter against her chest to hide it. “Yes,” she responded, shocked at the way her reply sounded as if she were choking. She wiped her eyes quickly and prayed that Mario wouldn’t come in.

Of course, he did anyway, and paced over to her. Peach put the letter aside and wrapped her arms around him. Confused, he patted her back. Once his eyes landed on the letter he felt his blood rush at the realization of what she now knew. Before he could say anything, she moved up and kissed his cheek.

“Mario,” she breathed, still clinging to him. “I want to go back to town now.”

He held her. “Then we’ll go back to town.”

* * *

 

Luigi made the journey to and from Toad Town every day for nearly the past week. It was not as long as he made it sound with his non-stop complaining over the rock in his shoe or his aching feet, but it was enough to make all three of them miss the pipe that made the journey for them.

“As far as I’ve seen, there are no Toads wandering around here,” Luigi began as they climbed the final hill. “The woods behind us is our best bet if you want to find them, Princess.”

“No,” she said. “First I must find what is left of the castle, then I will find the Toads. I want to know how much was lost.”

Luigi scratched his head. “I would say a lot.”

Over the hill Princess Peach could see the rubble of what was once the Mushroom Kingdom’s capital. Many houses left in rotting frames or broken foundations, businesses were set ablaze by the cannons (including the town clinic was now planks of wood and broken stone), and the castle …

Mario grabbed her arm before she could run to it. She turned to him then back to the remains.

Mushroom Castle was now two towers and a toppled center. Peach guessed whoever was inside was just as dead as she was. The servants, the officials, Toadsworth, all unexpecting such a disaster.

The stain glass window of the Princess was still intact over the debris, all but her head, that had fallen off. 


End file.
